


Untitled

by mazikeenzverev



Category: Tennis RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-08 00:27:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13446639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mazikeenzverev/pseuds/mazikeenzverev





	1. Chapter 1

He walked down the tunnel to get to the court. Carrying his bags, one over each shoulder, camera following his every move. His opponent following him only a couple of paces behind. He knew this match was the most important of his short career. Waiting at the end of the tunnel, just waiting for the announcement of his name so he could walk out on the center court. He could see his box from where he was standing and a smile came over his face when he realized that she was in it. She looked up and down the tunnel and recognized who was close to the entrance, smiled at him and waved quickly. 

“Welcome to all for this men’s semi-final. The first player we will welcome out on to Rod Laver Arena hails from Hamburg, Germany. 2018 was a prolific year for this 21-year old man; winning 6 titles including going back-to-back with his Masters 1000 win in Montreal beating Roger Federer. He is the world number three. Please welcome from Germany Alexander ‘Sascha’ Zverev.” He walked out onto the court making sure to wave to the masses, but making sure to give a proper wave over to his box. He tuned out the introduction for his opponent. He sat at his bench on the court getting prepared with his racquet and drinks. He put his bandana on and made sure everything was in the right position before he went out to the net ready for the coin toss.


	2. Chapter 2

His opponent stood at the net ready and waiting to do battle, the umpire was there talking quietly to the child waiting to toss the coin. He shook hands with his opponent and the umpire, gave the child a high five and had a quick conversation with her. The umpire did his usual spiel about challenging and the rest of the important information required to be told before every match. The child asked him if he wanted to call the toss and he called heads. He won the toss and said he would serve first. They took the photos required with the little girl and readied themselves for the warm up. Once the warm up was complete he sat down at his bench and looked around taking in his surroundings. He looked at his box again and realized there was another person he was not expecting to see. Sitting behind Juan Carlos was Roger Federer. His eyes nearly fell out of his head. He could not believe that his hero was in his box. But he now had to focus. One last look and a kiss blown over to his box for her, he strode over to start the match. 

He was feeling great, the ball coming off his racquet the best it had all tournament and he raced through the first set 6-0. Once the set had been completed his opponent had to call for the trainer due to a slight strain in his left hamstring. Once the medical timeout had been called Sascha looked over at his box and noticed that Roger was busy talking to Jez and that his girl was talking to Mischa and his mother who had snuck in during the set. His father/coach Alexander was busy comparing notes with Juan Carlos and Hugo. The umpire had gotten down from the chair and was talking to his opponent. He then came over to Sascha and told him that unfortunately his opponent had to pull out due to his injury. 

Sascha could not believe it, he was now into the Australian Open final. One of his goals was now achieved but he knew the hard work had only just begun. He could hear the crowd starting to cheer once it had been announced that his opponent had retired injured. They shook hands and Sascha wished him a swift recovery. He gave his thanks and blew kisses to the crowd. He looked to his box and saw them all on their feet cheering. She looked at him with the biggest smile on her face one arm wrapped around his mother in an embrace. 

He packed his things and prepared for the interview that was going to take place on court with Jim Courier. As he walked over he noticed there was another person with Jim ready to interview him. Holy flaming hell he realized who was next to Jim. He was going to get interviewed by Roger Federer and Jim. He placed his bags down, went over and shook their hands. It was a fantastic feeling being interviewed by legends of both tennis and commentating. He made sure to thank all the important people in his team and gave a special mention to Roger. He also made sure to thank the Australian public for their support and to ensure they knew that he would be ready for whomever he faced in the final. As the interview finished up Jim asked him who the lovely lady that was in his box tonight was. Sascha smiled and stated that she was a close friend that he had met a couple of years ago in Australia. The crowd got very excited when he said that she is Australian.

He finished the interview and picked up his bags, stopped to sign some autographs and then walked off the court into the locker room. In the locker room there stood his family and team ready to celebrate a very important moment in his life to date.


	3. Chapter 3

He noticed that she was standing near the back of the group and she looked nervous. He dropped his bags and walked over to his mum and dad. They all embraced each other and there were murmured words of encouragement from his parents and as they broke apart, Juan Carlos stepped forward to congratulate his student. Jez and Hugo were next to talk to Sascha about the match and how they were going to approach recovery considering he had played only one set. The only other person that was left to greet apart from her, was his brother. Mischa stepped forward and it looked as though there were tears in his eyes. They embraced and Mischa whispered in his ear “I’m so proud of you, little bro. I knew that you would make it.” They separated slightly and Sascha told him “thanks to you I am able to achieve one of my dreams.” Now was the most important person, in his eyes, of his team. 

He approached her with his arms wide open, signaling he wanted a hug. She ran into his arms and started crying. “I’m so proud of you babe, I know how hard you have been working this off season. Look at us, we also proved your parents wrong about me being a distraction to your tennis.” He looked down at her and pulled her even closer to his sweaty body. “You are one of the most important cogs in this wheelhouse to me, bub. Doesn’t matter what mum and dad say, I love you and they can’t control who I love.” He lifted her head and placed a loving kiss on her lips and pulled himself away from her, so he could start his recovery process. 

Mischa went up to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “No matter what or who, he isn’t going to let you go without a fight. I hope you realize how important you are to him.” She looked at him and shook her head. She doubted that he would be saying that if he knew what she was hiding.

It was going to be a long night in the Zverev camp to get Sascha ready for the biggest tennis match of his career. He went off to do his media commitments whilst Jez and Hugo started to get his drinks and meals prepared for the next 24 hours. Juan Carlos and Alexander Senior were busy getting the footage for his match and planning the training session for the next morning. His girlfriend, Mischa and mum went back to the hotel to get some sleep before a long and stressful couple of days. 

Once Sascha had completed his duties, he went back to the hotel and collapsed onto his bed. His girlfriend awoke with the thump that he made when he fell. She rolled over, laid her head on his chest and wrapped an arm over his stomach. He sighed deeply and started to absently stroke her hair and upper back. It had been an extremely long day but Sascha couldn’t shut off to go to sleep. He kept replaying the moment he realized he had won the match. It was such an amazing feeling knowing he could potentially win his first Grand Slam in a couple of days.

He knew what he was going to do if he won on Sunday night. His girlfriend had been such a rock over the past 18 months and he knew that she was the one that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. His parents had told him how much of an idiot he was being deciding to settle down at the tender age of 21 with a girl like his girlfriend. But he had made his mind up and had snuck off earlier in the week to buy an engagement ring for her. It was being kept safe by Mischa as he didn’t trust himself not to lose it by the time he was ready to propose. He was nervous but excited about how much his life was changing and how quickly it was. But what he didn’t know was his girlfriend would have news of her own to tell him by the time the final was over, news that would turn Sascha’s life upside down.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning they were awoken quite early by a loud knocking on their door. She stirred and there was another loud banging. She sat up and went to answer the door. On the other side of the door was her worst nightmare, her parents. She stood there waiting for her parents to say anything when the bed sheets rustled and she could hear Sascha moving about in the bedroom. Her mother stepped forward and hissed, “What the hell are you doing? Shacking up with a tennis player and not contacting us apart from a quick phone call just before you left Australia last year!” She heard Sascha coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. “Babe who is this? Do I need to call security to remove these people?” He said to her as he placed his head on top of hers. 

Her father stepped forward at this point and held out his hand. “Hello my name is Jaime and this is my wife Simone, we are your girlfriends parents. It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you.” Sascha smiled and held out his hand to return the handshake offered. He felt her stiffen as her fathers’ hand touched his. 

“Mum, dad this is Alexander my boyfriend. As I’m sure you are aware he is a professional tennis player and one aspect of the job is travelling to countries for periods of time. So sorry that I haven’t been able to stay in contact properly but it is hard work keeping track of what time zone I’m in let alone what country.” She tried so hard to not make her voice shake when she was speaking to her parents. She hated how much control her parents still had over her even after twelve months away from them. They had been so controlling over every aspect of her life growing up and it was brilliant being with Sascha and his family, as she had the freedom to do whatever she felt like doing when she felt like doing it. Sascha could feel the tension radiating from her and didn’t understand why she was acting the way she was. But he did notice that her mother was glaring at where he had placed his hands when he was hugging her. He decided it was best to bring out the big guns otherwise known as his dad and security. He loosened his grip on her and started to pull away from her. Her head flung around when she couldn’t feel him anymore, questions in her eyes. 

He said that he would be right back; he just needed to do something. He stepped back into their room, grabbed his phone off the table and sent a text to both his dad and brother to explain what was going on in front of their room and could they notify security to be on standby. He could hear voices starting to get louder at the doorway and he made his way back to the door. He then heard a couple more doors open and he heard Mischa calling out to their dad who had appeared in the hallway. He got to the hallway and saw that his brother and dad were standing outside of Jez’s room. Knowing what they were planning Sascha smiled to himself and wrapped an arm around her. She noticed that more people were getting up and that there were a couple of people hanging around outside Jez’s room. Next she noticed that Sascha was back and there was a smirk lingering on his face and she then knew that the morning was going to become even more interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

Mischa then started banging on the door and he could hear Jez screaming to go away it’s too freaking early. Then he heard Jez stumble up to the door and he opened it. “What the hell do you think you are doing? Waking me at seven freaking am!” Jez shouted at Mischa. They both then turned their heads towards Sascha and the group gathered around his door. The newcomers turned towards the shouting and started to walk towards it. Sascha took the opportunity to pull his girlfriend back to him and closed the door.

Once they were back in the bedroom Sascha turned to her. She knew what he was going to say. “No I didn’t organize for my parents to show up. I cannot stand either of them, they don’t approve of you and the life you lead. They think I should be holding down a proper job not following you around the world.” She told him. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I know babe, I know. I have to tell you, I’m the one that got in contact with your parents. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize that you and they didn’t have the best relationship in the world.” At this point he had to stop as she had broken out of his hold and was running to the bathroom. He started walking towards the bathroom when the door slammed shut. 

In the bathroom she was cradling the toilet after emptying her stomach. She couldn’t believe it; Sascha had been in contact with her parents when he knew she didn’t want any contact with them. It was unbelievable, she was so angry with him at that moment. And then for all the times for her to be sick it had to be then. She heard Sascha knocking on the door and calling out for her. She slowly got up, making sure she wasn’t going to be sick again and made her way to the bathroom door. She opened it and nearly got whacked in the face with Sascha’s hand, as he hadn’t realized the door was open. He looked down and saw she had opened the door. “Babe what is going on? Are you okay? I really am sorry about contacting your parents. I didn’t mean to upset you so much.” She smiled and held a hand up to stop him. “Sascha it’s fine, it actually may be a good thing for them to see you in action and realize how hard you work. Also it would be good for them to meet the rest of the team. I’m feeling better now, just a little stomach bug I’m sure.” She reassured her boyfriend. 

She knew time was running short for her to tell Sascha her big news but she knew it wouldn’t be a good time until after the final. She didn’t want him distracted leading up to the biggest match of his career. Going out into the living area she sat down and turned on the television whilst Sascha went out into the hallway to make sure everything was fine and her parents were being looked after. He noticed that her dad was busy talking to Jez and Hugo about God only knows what, but her mother was nowhere to be found. He went over to Hugo and asked where her mother was and Hugo told him that she had gone off with his mother for coffee and breakfast.

He went back to his room and started to get ready for his day. Once he was ready he went back out into the living area and sat next to her. He put his arm around her and she snuggled close to him. As they were getting comfortable there was a knock at the door. She got up and answered the door. There stood both their mothers with food and coffee in their hands and a look in their eyes. She let them both in and they set the food and coffee on the living room table. Sascha got up from the couch and greeted both women and made sure they were both comfortable in the living room before going and grabbing plates and cutlery from the kitchen. They all gathered around the living room table and organized what they wanted to eat. Sascha’s mother Irina made sure that everyone had his or her coffee order. Then the questions started from her mother. All throughout breakfast she was asking questions about what happened when Sascha wasn’t playing tennis, who everyone was in the team, what their responsibilities were. It felt like it was never going to end. Poor Sascha had to answer a majority of these questions as they were aimed at him. 

By the end of the breakfast Sascha had pretty much no voice and looked ready to bolt the second he was allowed to. Irina looked proud of her son and how he had handled the inquisition of her mother. Simone was happy to have been able to talk to her daughters’ boyfriend properly and felt better knowing he had her best interests at heart. And she felt relief that her mother seemed to be more accepting of who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. All she needed was to have her father accepting of her relationship with Sascha and she would be so happy to have her family back together.


	6. Chapter 6

Sascha grabbed his tennis gear and started to get ready for his practice. He was really surprised that his mother seemingly had pulled a rabbit out of the hat when it came to his mother-in-law. She really appeared to have started to accept him and her daughter being together. As he was thinking this over, Simone came up to him and shook his arm. “Alexander I’m sorry to interrupt you getting ready but I need to talk to you about something. It really is important that we have this discussion as I think you and my daughter are in a very serious relationship.” 

Sascha looked at Simone and gestured towards the bed. “Please sit down, what is it that you want to talk about?” Simone sat and sighed. “Look I am sure that you are a lovely young man but I am not sure that you are the best person for her to be dating. She has barely been in contact with Jamie and myself for the past twelve months and that is not good enough. I raised her to be better than that and I know that you have been making sure that she has had no contact with her family in that time. Why would you do that? Why would you isolate my daughter like that?” Sascha looked at her and was getting ready to respond when he heard a scream from just outside the bedroom and his girlfriend came running into the room. “Mum!! How dare you accuse Sascha of all that! He never made me do any of that. It was my choice not to contact you and dad. You always want to control my life and me! I am a grown woman and old enough to make my own decisions.” 

Simone’s face once the rant was over was one of shock and disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing come out of her daughters’ mouth. It was very hard to hear and looking at her daughter curling herself into her boyfriend. In that moment she realized that it was going to be hopeless trying to split the two of them up. It was a slightly bitter pill to swallow as she knew she wouldn’t see her daughter apart from the times that Sascha wasn’t on the tour or when he was in Australia. But she could see in both sets of eyes that they were in love and would be for a very long time. 

There was a loud knock on the door and Irina answered it. There stood Jamie, Alexander Senior and Mischa, all looking quite worried. “We heard the shouting. Is everything all good in here?” asked Mischa. Irina shrugged and told him “I think this discussion is long overdue between mother and daughter. Jamie you may need to go talk to both of them once it is finished.” Jamie nodded and looked unsurprised at what was occurring in the next room. They all crept towards the bedroom to find Sascha gathering his tennis gear, with his girlfriend wrapped around his back. Simone was sitting on the edge of the bed and making sure she was as far away from her daughter as she could be. Mischa rushed forward to help Sascha with his gear. Jamie slowly walked towards his wife and sat next to her, pulling her towards him. 

Simone turned her head into Jamie’s chest and whispered, “She hates us. She really truly hates us for what we did.” Jamie rolled his eyes, not surprised at that comment. He knew his wife had been quite controlling of their daughter but he didn’t realize how bad it had gotten. Everyone started to move towards the front door before Irina noticed that Simone and Jamie weren’t with the group. She dropped back from the group and waited for them to catch up. “You know it may be for the best that you come and see what happens during the day. How hard they both work to make this relationship work.”


	7. Chapter 7

Simone and Jamie looked at each other and shrugged. “It really wouldn’t hurt to spend the day with them. Get an insight to their life.” Jamie said to his wife. His wife sighed and started walking towards the group gathered waiting for the lift to arrive. Jamie turned to Irina and mouthed, “thank you”. Jamie could tell that his wife hated the fact that her daughter was a lot closer to Sascha’s family than her own flesh and blood. He could understand why that had occurred as his family was on the tour as well. Then there was the small issue of her not wanting to speak to her mother at all. 

They caught up to everyone else and Jamie made sure he and Simone were near Sascha and Mischa to hear about what the plan was for the day. It seemed that there would be very little time for them to be with everyone else as Juan Carlos and Alex senior had decided Sascha needed a proper workout after his shortened match the day before. It appeared that Irina would be making sure that her and their daughter were kept busy around the grounds of Melbourne Park. Then they would go watch Sascha practice and then come back to the hotel and make sure everything was in order for when the boys came back. Simone decided that it would be best if she stayed, as far away from her daughter as possible for the moment, she didn’t want to be causing her any more stress than she already had. 

Simone had a feeling that it was going to be a big next couple of days, and that there would be a life changing announcement coming from her daughter. She only had to look at her and see that she was glowing from the inside out. Then there was the whole vomiting after eating breakfast, probably the smell of grease making everything worse. 

Irina walked up to her daughter-in-law and wrapped an arm around her. Jez walked up on the other side and wrapped an arm around her. Quietly comforting her at the sudden appearance of her parents. Simone noticed that she was leaning into Irina’s embrace more than the bald headed mans embrace. Then she noticed one of the men she hadn’t been introduced to wandering over towards her. “Hello I’m Hugo. I work with Sascha and know your daughter quite well. You must be so proud of the two of them. He really has settled down since meeting your daughter. She has given him some insight into becoming a more rounded person, not just being a tennis player.” Simone just looked at him and shook her head, not believing what he was saying. 

The ride in the elevator was quite tense, down to the ground floor. The group stepped into the foyer and there were a couple of fans with German flags waiting to get an autograph. Both Sascha and Mischa went over to see the fans and spent a few minutes with each person, signing their papers and taking selfies. Simone and Jamie just stood and watched them, not understanding why they would stop for so long. Their daughter walked up to the group and placed a hand on Sascha’s arm, looking apologetic and explains that they need to keep moving. The fans start moving away and everyone went outside to the cars. 

Mischa pushed Sascha towards Simone and Jaime. “You know you really should talk to them about your relationship, seeing as though you are wanting to propose to their daughter. Start building a good relationship with the in-laws. You can ride with them to the tennis center. We’ll see you there, play nice.” Sascha walked over to Jamie and asked if he and his girlfriend could get a ride to the tennis center with him and Simone. Jamie showed them to his car and they made their way to their destination. It was one of the most awkward car rides Sascha had ever been on. No one spoke for the whole time.


	8. Chapter 8

When they arrived at the center the rest of the crew were there and Mischa looked at Sascha and shook his head. Mischa could just tell that it wasn’t a good time in the car for him. Mischa also couldn’t understand how or why her parents were being so horrible to everyone, it wasn’t as though they had kept their daughter away from them, and she decided that she didn’t want any contact with them. Sascha and Mischa went to the locker room to get ready for their practice session whilst Irina, Simone, Jamie and their daughter went to get coffee and talk. Hugo and Jez went to sign everyone in and organize the drinks for the boys for practice. Ferrero and Senior started talking about what they wanted to do with the boys for practice. 

Sascha and Mischa were sitting in the locker room talking about what happened in the car. “Both of them would not look at me and they were only talking with the other. Simone kept glaring at her and shaking her head.” Mischa shook his head and sighed exasperatedly. “Baby brother you need to try. Remember what it was like for me when I first met Evie’s parents. They wouldn’t speak to me unless I started the conversation, maybe this approach might be a good idea for you to do soon. I know that it is hard to try and get them to like you especially with what you are planning on doing in a couple of days. Maybe it might be a good idea to put that on hold until you get to know her parents better.” 

Meanwhile in the café Jamie was trying to ease the tension between his wife and daughter. Irina was watching the drama unfolding in front of her wondering if she should intervene. All Simone wanted was for her daughter to realize that the way she was living at the moment wasn’t what was best for her. That there were better men for her around and that they wouldn’t be keeping her away from her family like what Sascha had done for the past year. Her daughter had had enough with her mum not listening to what she wanted. It was exhausting even just being in her presence. Her dad she could deal with. He would always be supportive of her decisions no matter what. 

Jamie didn’t understand why Simone couldn’t just be happy for their daughter, why she had to keep putting her down and not recognizing their daughters’ feelings as what was best for her. Jamie eventually turned to Simone and told her “Sweetie I think it’s time that you just shut up about this. She is happy with Sascha and that should be something that you should be happy about. Yes it does mean that we wont see her all that often but she is an adult. It is time for you to let go and let her live her life.” His daughter turned to him and mouthed thank you. Irina looked at her daughter-in-law and shook her head. She thought that it was sad that a grown woman had to justify her relationship to her parents in particular her mother. It was hard for her to see the young woman that had grown to be like a daughter to her was being brought back to where she was when Irina first met her. The shy, timid girl who wouldn’t speak unless spoken to.


	9. Chapter 9

Irina decided enough was enough. She turned to Simone and told her that she was out of line talking about her son and her daughter the way that she was. That her daughter was perfect for Sascha as she kept him grounded and made sure he was able to enjoy life away from tennis. Irina then turned to Jamie and told him that he should be ashamed of how his wife treated their daughter and how belittling she has been even in the short period of time that they had been around the family. She noticed her daughter-in-law smiling at her and Irina knew she had done the right thing. Simone and Jamie looked like they were being properly chastised and realizing how much the Zverev family genuinely cared about their daughter. 

Irina’s phone went off with a text message from her husband, letting her know where the boys would be practicing. She showed the message to her daughter-in-law and they decided to make their way over to the court. They got up from the table and turned to Simone and Jamie. “If you want to come the boys will be on court 17 in a few minutes. But don’t feel pressured to come; I know that you both don’t approve of me and Sascha being together but this is one of the important times of the day for him. It might be good for you to see why.” Irina wrapped her arm around her waist and they started to walk away. Simone and Jamie looked at each other and shrugged. “Maybe it might be a good idea for us to give them all some space for the moment, they all seem to be very pissed at us for the way we treat OUR daughter.” Simone said to her husband. Jaime looked at her like she was crazy. “Simone, that’s enough! You know what Irina was talking about is true. We did push our daughter away. We did treat her horribly, put her down when we should have been praising her. If you can’t see that maybe it might be time for us to go our separate ways.” Jaime turned away from his wife, unable to look at her anymore. He had decided it was time for him to make amends with his daughter. 

He walked over to Irina and his daughter, put his arm over his daughter’s shoulder and pulled her slightly towards him. “I’m so sorry sweetie. I should have been a better father and not been like your mother quite so much.” He kissed her temple and turned to Irina. “So what is the next step in today’s schedule? Apart from watching the boys practice.” Irina looked at him proudly and started to walk towards the exit. Jamie and his daughter followed her to the practice courts and found the boys already warming up. Sascha looked over, smiled and waved at the group. Mischa noticing Sascha’s distraction decided it would be good to stop for a few minutes to say hello to everyone. They went over and started greeting everyone. Sascha automatically went over to his girlfriend and pulled her into a sweeping hug. Jamie watched them closely and finally saw what Irina was talking about earlier in the morning.


End file.
